1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to vehicle mirrors, and more particularly relates to vehicle mirrors having viewer-controlled adjustments for remote, multi-axis directional alignment and glare reduction.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In numerous situations for drivers of vehicles, the reduction of glare due to reflections of incoming light from various sources is an important safety consideration. The glare is caused by light entering the vehicle from the rear, being reflected from one or more mirrors provided for viewing the rear scene, and then entering the driver's eyes. Such glare causes eye discomfort to the driver, makes it difficult for him to ascertain the overall driving scene, and thus creates a potentially hazardous road environment. Most frequently, such reflections that produce the undesirable glare result from headlights of other vehicles that are behind the viewing driver. At other occasions, light from the sun may cause the unwanted glare, particularly soon after sunrise or before sunset when the sun's rays are nearly horizontal. Clearly, the problem is most prevalent in night driving, when a driver is presented with reflections of the headlights from several vehicles following him. The situation is significantly exacerbated when the headlights of a vehicle directly behind the viewing driver are set to their high-beam position; in such cases the driver in question is practically blinded as far as his ability to view his rear scene is concerned.
The rear view is presented to the driver continuously at all times in at least two mirrors, and often in three mirrors. Thus, light beams from the headlights of vehicles behind the driver enter his eyes after reflections from a rear-view mirror mounted inside his vehicle near the top-center of the front wind shield, from a left-side rear-view mirror mounted outside the vehicle, and frequently also from a similar right-side rear-view mirror. For directional alignment, the inside-mounted mirror is adjusted manually. For directional alignment of the externally mounted mirrors, most vehicles provide remotely operated adjustment mechanisms mounted inside the vehicle. Whereas the reflections from all three mirrors are potential safety hazards, only one of these three mirrors--the rear-view mirror mounted on the inside of the front windshield--has a reflectivity adjustment that enables the driver to reduce the glare of intense reflections. The driver is forced to accept the glaring reflections from the left-side and right-side rear-view mirrors.
Currently no vehicle provides a left- (or right-)side rear-view mirror with a reflectivity adjustment feature. In view of such a limitation, there is an important need to develop and provide mirrors for automobiles that reduce glare from all reflections. This invention solves the problem of such glare by providing a side mirror having a remote-controlled high/low reflectivity adjustment as well as a remote-controlled directional alignment.
Different reflectivities for the inside-mounted rear-view mirror are obtained by employing a wedge mirror. Such a mirror is produced by using a tapered glass plate which is then conventionally silvered on one side. The mirror is mounted so that its unsilvered side first receives the incident light beam. The high/low reflectivity adjustment consists of a mechanical lever that turns the wedge mirror by an appropriate angle so that the incident light beam travels different paths on its way to the driver's eyes. The turning angle is such that in the high reflectivity position, light traveling to the mirror enters its tapered glass plate, is reflected by the silvered backside, exits the glass plate, and reaches the driver's eyes; whereas in the low reflectivity position, the beam reflected from the backside is again reflected from the front surface of the glass plate and reflected a second time from the backside before reaching the driver. All such mirrors that provide two different reflectivities and are used in road vehicles operate on the same basic principle in that they all use a wedge mirror; the variations among them are only minor, being in the mechanical lever arrangement for turning the mirror.